The biggest suspense regards the city itself. Will Cleveland continue shrinking as the foreclosure crisis gnaws at neighborhoods and the population level slides toward 400,000?

The next census may not be pretty, and will raise questions about whether
Mayor Frank Jackson
and others in power can attract new residents and businesses.

Fortunately, Cleveland has plenty of people committed to the idea that the nation still needs a robust city where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie. Their best efforts are worthy of national attention.

Herewith, a glance at some of the year's top stories in the visual arts and urban planning.

1. The Cleveland Museum of Art:
The museum savored the opening of its beautiful new
East Wing
for one week in June before director
Timothy Rub
announced he was leaving to head the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Cleveland museum recovered gracefully in September, appointing
Deborah Gribbon
, former director of the
J. Paul Getty Museum
in Los Angeles, as interim director for approximately a year while it searches for a new permanent director.

In the fall, the museum persuaded Cuyahoga County Probate
Judge Anthony Russo
to allow it to
divert up to $75 million
in income from four endowment funds normally restricted to the purchase of art to instead help pay for the $350 million expansion and renovation due for completion in 2013.

Nearly three weeks ago, in their final meeting of the year, museum trustees voted to proceed with the first part of the final phase of construction. A vote on the last part of the project -- including reinstallation of the revered Asian collection -- will come in June.

2. Uptown:
The pivotal $300 million project, intended to revitalize the core of University Circle with eight acres of housing, retail and cultural attractions, made modest progress.

The Cleveland Institute of Art
launched renovations last summer at its
McCullough Center for the Visual Arts,
anchoring the east side of the Uptown project. An odd, bland-looking
addition to McCullough
, designed to be hidden behind banners, will come next.

In coming months, the
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland
may unveil designs for a new building designed by
Farshid Moussavi
of London, which will anchor the west end of Uptown at Mayfield Road and Euclid Avenue. But that depends on whether more money can be raised from private donors.

Developer
Ari Maron,
part of the team that will build rental apartments and condominiums between the MOCA and art institute projects, is optimistic he and partners will get the financing they need to start construction in 2010.

3. Church closings:
Parishioners appealed after the Cleveland Catholic Diocese announced in March that it planned to close
St. Ignatius
and
St. Colman
, two of the most beautiful churches in Cleveland. In May,
Bishop Richard Lennon
reversed course -- on those two buildings.

A group called
Endangered Catholics
is urging parishioners across Northeast Ohio to boycott Sunday collections to protest the closing of other churches, including the architecturally significant
St. James
in Lakewood.

4. Virtual art festival:
By early October, a half-dozen galleries in Cleveland had mounted excellent
exhibitions
including more than 250 works by 100 Northeast Ohio artists from the past few decades. In typical fashion, the go-it-alone commercial and nonprofit galleries failed to coordinate and draw attention to their collective riches. Maybe they'll get it together this year.

5. Medical mart:
In November,
MMPI Inc.
of Chicago let it be known it wanted to build the long-discussed medical mart on the north end of Mall C in downtown Cleveland, where it would
block a treasured view
of Lake Erie.

On Christmas Eve, Cuyahoga County, MMPI's partner in the deal, announced that it's likely the project will move back where it belongs -- to a site west of Mall B, where it won't block any views. That's great news. Of course, it would be even better if they can get the thing built.

6. Public Square:
Just before Christmas,
Parkworks
and the
Downtown Cleveland Alliance
unveiled three proposals by nationally respected landscape architect
James Corner
to
revamp Public Square
.

The most popular idea called for building an artificial hill rising 20 feet over the intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Street to connect the four quadrants of the square. The project shows there's a rising awareness among civic and business leaders that Cleveland needs to improve its shabby public realm.

7. Port of Cleveland:
Despite disarray in the executive suite at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, the agency's real estate director,
Eric Johnson,
facilitated an excellent new plan by architect
Stanton Eckstut
of New York designed to transform 100 acres of downtown waterfront from industrial shipping to an urban neighborhood.

What happens next depends on whether the agency can hire a strong director to succeed
Adam Wasserman,
who was pushed out for reasons the port board still hasn't made clear.

8. Art districts:
It was a good year for the notion that the arts can help concentrate economic energy in the city's more vital neighborhoods. In October, for example, the
Gordon Square Arts District
celebrated the opening of the renovated
Capitol Theatre,
a movie house whose mission is to help anchor a collection of new and renovated restaurants, galleries, retail shops and live theaters.

9. The I-90 bridge:
Ten years after it began, the $200 million
ODOT
project to redo the downtown Inner Belt has mushroomed to an estimated $3.5 billion. The project is shaping up as a monument to mediocrity and bureaucratic intransigence.

Most recently, ODOT caved to pressure that it allow three city officials to sit on a panel choosing a design/build team for a westbound, $450 million I-90 bridge, the first component of the project.

That's nice, but the agency still hasn't decided whether the public will get to see final proposals before the contract is awarded later this year.

10. Lakefront bridge:
Over the summer, the city of Cleveland unveiled a half-dozen proposals for a new $5 million pedestrian bridge at North Coast Harbor, designed by Boston architect
Miguel Rosales.
The next step is to pick a final concept.

Let's hope the city picks the most innovative design, which could help brand Cleveland as a city where public infrastructure can rise to the level of art.